GettyImagesJonas Olsson has been a colossus in his five seasons at West Brom

West Brom's season thus far has been hugely successful. Fifth in the Premier League, five wins out of six at home and already at the 20 point mark. Yet this success so far has been described in some quarters as a "fluke" and that Albion will return to their "rightful position" soon enough. It's fair to say West Brom going against the established order of the Premier League isn't sitting well in some areas of the media.

- Olsson targets 300 games for West Brom

Albion haven't exactly been lauded by pundits and columnists this season despite the success they've had, but certain players have picked up praise in some areas. The ability of James Morrison is beginning to be recognised, in my view he is one of the most under-rated players in the Premier League. Peter Odemwingie continues to score goals at the highest level whilst Manchester United have been credited with an interest in Claudio Yacob.

With the exception of Yacob, the players who get the attention are the flair players, the more forward-thinking members of the Albion squad. So whilst The Baggies have, to an extent, been ignored by the media, some of their players have been singled out for a little bit of praise even if it was mis-informed - such as Garth Crooks suggesting James Morrison should be called up by England despite being a Scotland regular. However, the Baggies back-line have picked up hardly any plaudits this season despite the huge role they have played.

That changes with this blog, because this is where the unfashionable players, those who do the boring job of defending are going to be recognised. Ask West Brom fans who the most important player at the club is and I'd wager a high percentage of them would say Jonas Olsson. The Swedish international has been an absolute colossus at the back for West Brom in his five seasons at the club, but in particular this season his form has been nothing short of superb. He wins header after header, blocks anything that goes near him and, impressively this season, has dealt with different types of strikers with large success. He can mark a physical presence like Nikica Jelavic or Bobby Zamora but has also enjoyed success against Luis Suarez this term.

And alongside Olsson, West Brom have Gareth McAuley. The Northern Ireland international has been an utter revelation since joining Albion on a free transfer from Ipswich last summer. It is beyond my comprehension how a defender as good as McAuley has gone un-noticed for so long and how he was picked up on a free. He has everything required in a centre-half, and everything Olsson wanted in a centre-half partner. McAuley is reliable, he doesn't take undue risks, and quite simply he loves defending. In these two the Baggies have one of the best central defensive partnerships in the league.

Birmingham City were credited with this title when Scott Dann and Roger Johnson were their centre-half pairing, whilst their careers have faltered somewhat, it seems West Brom picked up the best two of the Birmingham back five in Ben Foster and Liam Ridgewell. Whilst Foster is currently injured, his form for West Brom since arriving at the club has been remarkably consistent. He has missed two games in that spell, thus playing 47 Premier League games for the club. In that time, I can think of only three mistakes that have led to goals, however there are countless occasions where he has kept Albion in games. So far this season Foster has saved 75% of shots at him, quite a number.

Ridgewell to me is the definition of an "unfashionable" player, he receives very little credit despite performing at the highest level since joining Albion. Before then, I never particularly rated Ridgewell. How wrong I was. Ridgewell just delivers performance after performance and this is despite the fact he never really has a settled player in front of him, with the left wing position constantly chopped and changed by manager Steve Clarke. Ridgewell gets on with his job with minimum fuss, and he is surprisingly impressive going forward, although his crossing has been a tad off this season.

After watching years of fantastic, open, attack-minded football but with a poor defence, it is a joy to see the likes of McAuley, Olsson and Ridgewell performing to the maximum.

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